Robert Kerr

“ This is what appeared to me to be the then state of Otaheite. The other islands, that is, Huaheine, Ulietea, and Otaha, were in a more flourishing state than they were when I was there before. Since that time, they had enjoyed the blessing of peace; the people seemed to be as happy as any under heaven; and well they may, for they possess not only the necessaries, but many of the luxuries of life in the greatest profusion; and my young man told me that hogs, fowls, and fruits, are in equal plenty at Bola-bola, a thing which Tupia would never allow. ”

“ The season of spring, which revived the face of all nature, adorning every plant with blossoms, and inspiring with joyful songs the feathered tribe, doubtless contributed in a great measure to make every object pleasing in our eyes. But the industry and elegance of the natives, which they displayed in planting every piece of ground to the greatest advantage, as well as in the neatness and regularity of all their works, demanded our admiration, whilst it gave us room to suppose, that they enjoyed a considerable degree of happiness. ”

“ The ocean covered to a great extent, with myriads of animalcules; these little beings, organized, alive, endowed with locomotive power, a quality of shining whenever they please, and illuminating every body with which they come in contact, and of laying aside their luminous appearance at pleasure; all these ideas crowded upon us, and bade us admire the Creator, even in his minutest works. ”

“ It is not in our power to determine by what various accidents a nation so flourishing, could be reduced in number, and degraded to its present indigence. But we are well convinced that many causes may produce this effect, and that the devastation which a volcano might make, is alone sufficient to heap a load of miseries on a people confined to so small a space. In fact, this island, which may perhaps, in remote ages, have been produced by a volcano, since all its minerals are merely volcanic, has at least in all likelihood been destroyed by its fire. ”

“ I once saw them make a batter of fruit and roots diluted with water, in a vessel that was loaded with dirt, and out of which the hogs had been but that moment eating, without giving it the least washing, or even washing their hands, which were equally dirty; and when I expressed a dislike, was laughed at. I know not if all are so. The actions of a few individuals are not sufficient to fix a custom on a whole nation. Nor can I say if it is the custom for men and women to have separate messes. ”

“ I now gave up all hopes of finding any more land in this ocean, and came to a resolution to steer directly for the west entrance of the Straits of Magalhaeus, with a view of coasting the out, or south side of Terra del Fuego round Cape Horn to the strait Le Maire. As the world has but a very imperfect knowledge of this shore, I thought the coasting of it would be of more advantage, both to navigation and to geography, than any thing I could expect to find in a higher latitude. In the afternoon of this day, the wind blew in squalls, and carried away the main top-gallant mast. ”

“ We ought to figure their country to ourselves as one extensive forest: They have only begun to clear and plant a few insulated spots, which are lost in it, like small islands in the vast Pacific Ocean. Perhaps if we could ever penetrate through the darkness which involves the history of this nation, we might find that they have arrived in the South Sea much later than the natives of the Friendly and Society Isles. ”

“ All kinds of trees and plants, all-domestic animals, nay a great part of the nation itself, may have perished in the dreadful convulsion of nature: Hunger and misery must have been but too powerful enemies to those who escaped the fire. We cannot well account for these little carved images which we saw among the natives, and the representation of a dancing woman's hand, which are made of a kind of wood at present not to be met with upon the island. ”

“ Towha, their admiral, wore five of them, to the ends of which several strings of cocoa-nut tree were added, with a few red feathers affixed to them. He had no helmet on, but wore a fine turban, which sat very gracefully on his head. He was a man seemingly near sixty years of age, but extremely vigorous, tall, and of a very engaging noble countenance. In each canoe we took notice of vast bundles of spears, and long clubs or battle-axes placed upright against the platform; and every warrior had either a club or spear in his hand. ”

“ The navigation of the Greeks, in those days, was not more extensive than that which is practised by the Otaheitans at present, being confined to short passages from island to island; and as the stars at night directed the mariners through the Archipelago at that time, so they still continue to guide others in the Pacific Ocean. The Greeks were brave; but the numerous wounds of the Otaheitan chiefs, are all proofs of their spirit and prowess. It seems to be certain, that in their battles they rouse themselves into a kind of phrenzy, and that their bravery is a violent fit of passion. ”

“ All kinds of plants, indigenous and foreign, thrive with luxuriance, and make this beautiful spot, on which the gardens of the landgrave are situated, the admiration of all beholders. Nay, to confine ourselves to our own voyage, the Society Islands, the Marquesas, and some of the Friendly Islands, where we found volcanic remains, as well as Ambrrym and Tanna, where we actually saw burning mountains, have a rich and fertile soil, in which nature displays the magnificence of the vegetable kingdom. ”

“ What could induce three or four families (for I believe there are not more) to separate themselves so far from the society of the rest of their fellow-creatures, is not easy to guess. By our meeting with inhabitants in this place, it seems probable that there are people scattered over all this southern island. But the many vestiges of them in different parts of this bay, compared with the number that we actually saw, indicates that they live a wandering life; and, if one may judge from appearances and circumstances, few as they are, they live not in perfect amity, one family with another. ”

“ I have before observed that this is the most desolate coast I ever saw. It seems entirely composed of rocky mountains without the least appearance of vegetation. These mountains terminate in horrible precipices, whose craggy summits spire up to a vast height, so that hardly any thing in nature can appear with a more barren and savage aspect than the whole of this country. The inland mountains were covered with snow, but those on the sea-coast were not. We judged the former to belong to the main of Terra del Fuego, and the latter to be islands, so ranged as apparently to form a coast. ”

“ They are the only people in the South Seas who have not had reason to complain of our arrival among them. When we consider how easy it is to provoke the mariner to sport with the lives of Indians, from the numerous examples throughout this narrative, we must acknowledge that it required an uncommon degree of good temper, not to draw upon themselves a single act of brutality. Those philosophers who are of opinion that the temper, the manners, and genius of a people, depend entirely upon the climate, will be at a loss to account for the peaceful character of the inhabitants of New Caledonia. ”

“ But though we are too much polished to be cannibals, we do not find it unnaturally and savagely cruel to take the field, and to cut one another's throats by thousands, without a single motive, besides the ambition of a prince, or the caprice of his mistress! Is it not from prejudice that we are disgusted with the idea of eating a dead man, when we feel no remorse in depriving him of life? ”

“ The banks of this were lined with mangroves, beyond which a few other sorts of plants and trees occupied a space of fifteen or twenty feet, which had a layer of vegetable mould, charged with nutritive moisture, and covered with a green bed of grasses, where the eye gladly reposed itself after viewing a painted prospect. The border of shrubberies and wild-trees which lined the sea-shore, was the most advantageous to us as naturalists; here we met with some unknown plants, and saw a great variety of birds of different classes, which were for the greatest part entirely new. ”

“ The night proved clear and serene, and the only one that was so since we left the Cape; and the next morning the rising sun gave us such flattering hopes of a fine day, that we were induced to let all the reefs out of the top-sails, and to get top-gallant yards across, in order to make the most of a fresh gale at north. Our hopes, however, soon vanished; for before eight o'clock, the serenity of the sky was changed into a thick haze, accompanied with rain. The gale increasing obliged us to hand the main-sail, close-reef our top-sails, and to strike top-gallant yards. ”

“ It is extraordinary that the same nation should have spread themselves over all the isles in this vast ocean, from New Zealand to this island, which is almost one-fourth part of the circumference of the globe. Many of them have now no other knowledge of each other, than what is preserved by antiquated tradition; and they have, by length of time, become, as it were, different nations, each having adopted some peculiar custom or habit, &c. Nevertheless, a careful observer will soon see the affinity each has to the other. In general, the people of this isle are a slender race. ”

“ Being tired with beating against the N.W. winds, I resolved to put into this place if I found it practicable, or to anchor in the bay which lies before it. The flood being favourable, after making a stretch off, we fetched under the Cape, and stretched into the bay along the western shore, having from thirty-five to twelve fathoms, the bottom everywhere good anchorage. At one o'clock we reached the entrance of the inlet just as the tide of ebb was making out; the wind being likewise against us, we anchored in twelve fathoms water, the bottom a fine sand. ”

“ Let us, for instance, suppose, that the people of New Caledonia are the offspring of a nation, who, by living in affluence and in a genial climate, have not been stinted in their growth; the colony which removed into the barren soil of New Caledonia, will probably preserve the habit of body of their ancestors for many generations. The people of Tanna may have undergone a contrary revolution, and being descended of a slender and short race, like the Mallicollese, the richness of their present country may not yet have entirely taken effect. ”

“ Leaving this place, we proceeded along the shore to the westward, and found other harbours which I had not time to look into. In all of them is fresh water, and wood for fuel; but, except these little tufts of bushes, the whole country is a barren rock, doomed by nature to everlasting sterility. The low islands, and even some of the higher, which lie scattered up and down the sound, are indeed mostly covered with shrubs and herbage, the soil a black rotten turf, evidently composed, by length of time, of decayed vegetables. ”

“ If we consider the number of observations that may be obtained in the course of a month (if the weather is favourable,) we shall perhaps find this method of finding the longitude of places as accurate as most others; at least it is the most easy, and attended with the least expence to the observer. Every ship that goes to foreign parts is, or maybe, supplied with a sufficient number of quadrants at a small expence; I mean good ones, proper for making these observations. For the difference of the price between a good and a bad one, I apprehend, can never be an object with an officer. ”

“ We never found more than three or four huts in a place, capable of containing three or four persons each only; and what is remarkable, we never saw the least marks either of canoe or boat, and it is generally thought they have none; being altogether, from what we could judge, a very ignorant and wretched set of people, though natives of a country capable of producing every necessary of life, and a climate the finest in the world. ”

“ Our road was intolerably rugged, over heaps of volcanic stones, which rolled away under our feet, and against which we continually hurt ourselves. The natives who were accustomed to this desolate ground, skipped nimbly from stone to stone without the least difficulty. In our way we saw several black rats running about, which it seems are common to every island in the South Sea. Being arrived at the shrubbery which we had in view, we found it was nothing but a small plantation of the paper mulberry, of which here, as well as at Otaheite, they make their cloth. ”

“ Though benevolent nature has been very bountiful to these isles, it cannot be said that the inhabitants are wholly exempt from the curse of our forefathers: Part of their bread must be earned by the sweat of their brows. The high state of cultivation their lands are in, must have cost them immense labour. This is now amply rewarded by the great produce, of which every one seems to partake. No one wants the common necessaries of life; joy and contentment are painted in every face. ”